Pricing on Highland at Portola Springs

soulbro

New member
We are from out of town, but recently visited Irvine and loved the city and the surroundings and city. We came across Portola Springs and looked over a few new communities and the one we really liked was the Highland plan 2.

I was told from sales of Highland plan 2 going rate is at 1.49 to 1.5 million.

1) Does that sound about right?
2) anyone know what have the increase been like for Highland over the past year?
3) what?s been the wait time like for people who are pre qualified and able to get on the priority list?

For context, a real estate agent told us to pre qualified first and then you will be able to get on the priority list. So we forwarded the lender prequal letter and just a day later, the agent said that there may be an available house that IP can offer us for Highland. Sounds too good to be true? Or is Highland actually not as ?hot? of a listing as I?m being led to believe.

Any thoughts here would be super helpful!
 
At $1.5mm Plan 2 would be $544/sf.  New construction is usually 10-15% higher than resale so their pricing is not unusual for new construction. 

You didn't mention if the available house is in a current phase or a future phase.  Was this a cancellation by another buyer?  That happened a few times on my street when I purchased my home.  The lot I wanted wasn't available then it was.  Unless the Highland sales agent is being very guarded about what he/she says, you may get your answer by just asking.

If as you say the Highland Plan 2 is the one you really liked, then I wouldn't worry about how much prices have risen or what the actual demand is for that tract.  Builders are usually pretty good at figuring out how to price their product and will adjust their pricing if the market changes or proves them wrong; so just buy the house and enjoy it.  Prices may continue to rise if demand continues at recent levels; or prices may fall if demand recedes or mortgage rates rise.  Nobody can accurately predict what will happen.

Since I live in PS, I can tell you that resale home prices have been on a tear this year.  If you do need to buy now, at least you get the advantage of generationally low mortgage rates.
 
We were in the same boat, and recently signed a purchase agreement for a plan 2X in Highland at the end of May.  We first visited in late March, and kept an eye on things over the next month or two...

In our experience:
- It seems like a handful of units are being released roughly every 3-4 weeks
- We got on the priority list in early April.. got our first call in early May for a release, but the available lots didn't meet our criteria, so we passed.  Waited till the end of May and another release happened then, so we managed to get one of the lots that we liked.  We were half expecting to wait 4-6 months before getting a call, so yeah, it does seem like the priority list isn't quite as long as one would think.  Not really sure if it's an indicator of demand overall, or the fact that only serious buyers bother to go through the priority list process?
- With each release, for comparable lot sizes/plans, it seems like prices have been inching up about $30-40k per release, and it seems like they are all sold within 1-2 weeks.  For the 2X lot that we got (one of the smaller ones), we're in the low $1.4 mill range.

PM me if you have any questions or would like to compare notes  :)
 
I am on the priority list as well on Highland but didn't get communicated on any available lots. I called last week and they said it will take another 4-6 weeks for the next Phase. I am not sure what sort of process the highland sales folks are following but definitely seems like YMMV
 
socal007 said:
I am on the priority list as well on Highland but didn't get communicated on any available lots. I called last week and they said it will take another 4-6 weeks for the next Phase. I am not sure what sort of process the highland sales folks are following but definitely seems like YMMV

maybe's soulbro's large suitecase of cash got him into front of line.
 
socal007 said:
I am on the priority list as well on Highland but didn't get communicated on any available lots. I called last week and they said it will take another 4-6 weeks for the next Phase. I am not sure what sort of process the highland sales folks are following but definitely seems like YMMV

My experience with IP builder has been that you walk up to the sales office, talk to sales and express interest multiple times. Sometimes ppl on list pass up and if you happen to visit the sales office, they may offer you.
That being said, i also found the so called priority list is undeterministic.
 
wolfpack said:
We were in the same boat, and recently signed a purchase agreement for a plan 2X in Highland at the end of May.  We first visited in late March, and kept an eye on things over the next month or two...

In our experience:
- It seems like a handful of units are being released roughly every 3-4 weeks
- We got on the priority list in early April.. got our first call in early May for a release, but the available lots didn't meet our criteria, so we passed.  Waited till the end of May and another release happened then, so we managed to get one of the lots that we liked.  We were half expecting to wait 4-6 months before getting a call, so yeah, it does seem like the priority list isn't quite as long as one would think.  Not really sure if it's an indicator of demand overall, or the fact that only serious buyers bother to go through the priority list process?
- With each release, for comparable lot sizes/plans, it seems like prices have been inching up about $30-40k per release, and it seems like they are all sold within 1-2 weeks.  For the 2X lot that we got (one of the smaller ones), we're in the low $1.4 mill range.

PM me if you have any questions or would like to compare notes  :)

I didn't end up getting a new development, but Highlands was the only one I seriously considered, even better if you got a decent lot.  I really think this is the hidden gem of Irvine right now. 
 
Who owns the land adjacent to the highland park? It is currently graded and fenced. If Irvine pacific owns it, will there be more highland plans or will there be another floor plan?
 
limz said:
Who owns the land adjacent to the highland park? It is currently graded and fenced. If Irvine pacific owns it, will there be more highland plans or will there be another floor plan?

That's where California Pacific will be building new homes.
 
Congrats to those who got into highland?s current phase. Looks like IP increased the price by $100K compared to prior phases (attached).

Apparently I was way down the ?priority list? so the three lots were sold out even before they could communicate the lots to me. I don?t know what?s worse getting overbid or blindly hoping we will get ?the call? on new construction.

This market really sucks.
 

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Just went back today, pricing on Highland is definitely above 1.5 now. I would say it may even be 1.52-1.55 for next phase.

If people want to splurge a bit more, OH Reserve Como has the same floor plans as Highland, and it will be about extra 100-150K bringing the price to 1.6-1.7 right now. IMO, if you are going for Highland, you might as well, find another 100-150K and buy Como. Resale value, and more private/gated community, possibly less car traffic and cars in general could be worth it.

 
Thanks. You are right about Como. I know about it and found it hilarious how the floor plans and elevations were similar. Eastwood Fresco pricing is around $1.6ish as well. A part of me thinks none of these homes are worth so much. You will get fantastic resales  with bigger lots and much more central location  than paying $1.6M and being next to wildfire and coyote central (highland). Check out LA fire maps for highland.

Problem is I can only stretch budget by so much and this market (resale and new construction) is testing my limits and patience.
 
New construction certainly seems way high. Fresco prices increased over 75K from Jan to june of this year on average, and still selling. This tells there is lot of demand.
Bigger resale homes ead to multiple bid situation.

So pick your choice!
 
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